GA Notes:"Some Important Lakes of India" For Railway & SSC Exams 2018

Some Important Lakes of India
Ashtamudi Lake:

It is a lagoon in the Kollam district of Kerala.
It has been registered as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

Chilka Lake:

It is a brackish water coastal lake.
It is the largest coastal lagoon in India.
It is situated in the state of Odisha.
Chilika Lake is the largest wintering ground for migratory birds, on the Indian sub-continent.


Kolleru Lake:

It is one of the largest fresh water lake of India.
It is situated in Andhra Pradesh.
Located between the deltas of the Krishna and Godavari rivers.
It was declared a wetland of international importance in 2002 under Ramsar convention.


Loktak Lake:

It is the largest fresh water lake in north-east India.
It is also called the only 'Floating Islands Lake' in the world because of the phumdis floating over it.
It is designated a wetland of international importance under Ramsar Convention in 1990.


Pulicat Lake:

It is the second largest brackish water lake on the Coromandel Coast.
It lies on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lake from the Bay of Bengal.


Pushkar Lake:

It is situated in the district of Ajmer.
It is an artificial lake.
Thousands of pilgrims come to bath in the waters of the lake during the festival of Kartika Poornima in November.


Sambhar Lake:

It is situated near Jaipur city.
It is the largest inland salt lake of India.


Vembanad Lake:

It is the largest lake in Kerala.
It is separated from the Arabian Sea by a narrow barrier island.
The Nehru Trophy Boat Race is conducted in a portion of the lake.


Wular Lake:

It is situated in the Valley of Kashmir between Sopore and Bandipore.
It is the largest fresh water lake in India.
Jhelum river feeds the lake.


Dal Lake:

Dal Lake is a lake in Srinagar and is integral to tourism known as the "Jewel in the crown of Kashmir" or "Srinagar's Jewel".
Asia's largest Tulip garden is on the banks of Dal Lake.
Mughal gardens, Shalimar Bagh and the Nishat Bagh are on the banks of Dal Lake.


Tsomgo Lake:

Tsomgo Lake or Changu Lake, is a glacial lake in the East Sikkim.
The lake is the venue for the Guru Purnima festival in which Jhakris of Sikkim assemble at the lake area to derive benefits from the healing qualities of the lake waters.


Bhimtal Lake:

It is the largest lake in Kumaon region, known as the "lake district of India".
It is a "C" shaped lake.


Periyar Lake:

Periyar Lake is formed by the construction of the dam across the Mullaperiyar River in 1895.
The notable elephant reserve and a tiger reserve, Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is located on the banks of Periyar Lake.

Facts about earth for Railway and SSC

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and is the largest of the terrestrial planets. The Earth is the only planet in our solar system not to be named after a Greek or Roman deity. The Earth was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago and is the only known planet to support life.

Facts about the Earth
Mass: 5,972,190,000,000,000 billion kg
Equatorial Diameter: 12,756 km
Polar Diameter: 12,714 km
Equatorial Circumference: 40,030 km
Known Moons: 1
Notable Moons: The Moon
Orbit Distance: 149,598,262 km (1 AU)
Orbit Period: 365.26 Earth days
Surface Temperature: -88 to 58°C

Composition and Structure of the Earth
The Earth consists of four concentric layers: inner core, outer core, mantle and crust. The crust is made up of tectonic plates, which are in constant motion. Earthquakes and volcanoes are most likely to occur at plate boundaries. The Earth is made up of four distinct layers:

1. The inner core is in the centre and is the hottest part of the Earth. It is solid and made up of iron and nickel with temperatures of up to 5,500°C. With its immense heat energy, the inner core is like the engine room of the Earth.

2. The outer core is the layer surrounding the inner core. It is a liquid layer, also made up of iron and nickel. It is still extremely hot, with temperatures similar to the inner core.

3. The mantle is the widest section of the Earth. It has a thickness of approximately 2,900 km. The mantle is made up of semi-molten rock called magma. In the upper parts of the mantle the rock is hard, but lower down the rock is soft and beginning to melt.

4. The crust is the outer layer of the earth. It is a thin layer between 0-60 km thick. The crust is the solid rock layer upon which we live. There are two different types of crust continental crust, which carries land, and oceanic crust, which carries water.

Shape: The shape of Earth approximates an oblate spheroid, a sphere flattened along the axis from pole to pole such that there is a bulge around the equator.
Chemical composition: Earth's mass is approximately 5.97×1024 kg.It is composed mostly of iron (32.1%), oxygen (30.1%), silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulphur (2.9%), nickel (1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminium (1.4%), with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements. Due to mass segregation, the core region is believed to be primarily composed of iron (88.8%), with smaller amounts of nickel (5.8%), sulphur (4.5%), and less than 1% trace elements.

Tectonic plates: The mechanically rigid outer layer of Earth, the lithosphere, is broken into pieces called tectonic plates. These plates are rigid segments that move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent boundaries, at which two plates come together, divergent boundaries, at which two plates are pulled apart, and transform boundaries, in which two plates slide past one another laterally. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation can occur along these plate boundaries.

Surface: Earth's terrain varies greatly from place to place. About 70.8% of the surface is covered by water, with much of the continental shelf below sea level. This equates to 361.132 million km2 (139.43 million sq mi). The submerged surface has mountainous features, including a globe-spanning mid-ocean ridge system, as well as undersea volcanoes, oceanic trenches, submarine canyons, oceanic plateaus and abyssal plains. The remaining 29.2% (148.94 million km2, or 57.51 million sq mi) not covered by water consists of mountains, deserts, plains, plateaus, and other landforms.

Magnetic field: The main part of the Earth's magnetic field is generated in the core, the site of a dynamo process that converts kinetic energy of fluid convective motion into electrical and magnetic field energy. The field extends outwards from the core, through the mantle, and up to Earth's surface, where it is, to rough approximation, a dipole.

Important Geography Notes

1.India is the seventh largest country in the world with an area of 3287263 sq. km, which is 2.42% of world's area.

2. India is the second most populous country in the world with a population of 1,236,344,631 (approx by July 2014). Officially 1.21 billion (as of 2011 census), which is 17.44% of the world.

3.Indian subcontinent is located in the Northern and Eastern hemisphere.

4.India shares longest boundary with Bangladesh (4053 km), followed by China (3380 km), Pakisthan (2912 km), Nepal (1690 km(, Myanmar (1463 km), Bhutan (605 km) and Afghanistan (88 km).

5.In India, the Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N latitude) passes through 8 states (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram).

6. Islands : Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, Lakshadweep, Amindive and Minicoy in the Arabian Sea.
7. Indian Standard Time (IST) : The 82°30'E longitude is taken as the Standard Time Meridian of India, as it passes through middle of India (from Naini, near Allahabad).

8.The 82°30'E Meridian also dictates time in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

9.In the South, on the Eastern side, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait seperate India from Sri Lanka.

Basic Information about India
o Latitudinal extent - 8°4' North to 37°6' North
o Longitudinal extent - 68°7' East to 97° 25' East
o North-South extent - 3214 km
o East-West extent - 2933 km
o Land Frontiers - 15200 km
o Total Coastline - 7516.6 km
o Number of States - 29

 Number of Union Territories - 7
o Land Neighbors : 7
o Pakistan
o Afghanistan
o China
o Nepal
o Bhutan
o Bangladesh and
o Myanmar
o States with Longest Coastline - Gujarat
o Active Volcano - Barren Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
o Southern most point - Indira Point or Pigmallion point in Great Nicobar
o Southern most tip of mainland - Kanyakumari
o Northern most point - Indira Col
o Western most point - West of Ghaur Mota in Gujarat
o Eastern most point - kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh

Indian States Situated on the Border
Country Indian States Situated on the Boarder

Pakistan- Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir

Afghanistan- Jammu and Kashmir

China- Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh

Nepal- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Paschim Banga, Sikkim

Bhutan - sikkim, Paschim Baga, Asom and Arunachal Pradesh

Bangladesh- Paschim Bangal, Asom, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram

Physiography Divisions of India are,
1. The Himalayan Range of Mountains
2. The Peninsular Plateau
3. The Great Plains of India
4. The Coastal Plains
5. The Islands of India